Mumma Poppet

Wednesday, 20 May 2015

So that is a totally real thing! Who knew? I
have found teaching ridiculously hard. I will be talking to the class about
something and I get my words completely muddled up, or I stutter or I just
completely forget what I was doing! No entirely ideal with 32 faces looking
back at you.

Currently I am going through the name blank
stage, where I want to talk about somebody and I complete forget their name.
Which really isn’t ideal when referring to your husband!

My all-time low moment so far has been going
to drop something off at the bank and going to pay for a parking ticket and
realising I had left my purse at home. I am sure I didn’t have this many blonde
moments before! But the kindness of strangers and my new bump saved the day, as
a lovely man paid for my ticket. It’s amazing how lovely people are to pregnant
women!

That delightful stage of people giving you a
double take. Is she fat? Or is she pregnant? Finally at 17 weeks my little baby
bump is on show and I don’t have to be wearing something skin tight for it to be
completely obvious.

The pro’s – Lovely smiles of random
strangers and people being generally nicer to you.

The con’s – Comments like “Ohhhh you’re
getting fat now!” Since when is that ever ok to say?

Friday, 17 April 2015

Things are ticking along nicely and then
friends of ours who are also expecting, invited us to a Mothercare event. Ohhh
doesn’t that sound lovely, we naively thought. It’s too early to buy anything, we
foolishly said. We’ll just have a look, we smiled at each other.

And then we went. Nearly £600 lighter
because it was such a ‘bargain’ . . .

Suddenly, we found ourselves stood in front
of a sales person spouting words like “ISO fix, Base, Travel system, ECE R44,
Connection points, Safety regulation-compliant, and Rearward facing.” Can’t we
just have the one with the cute Elephants on I found myself thinking. Who knew
there was so much to know about Prams and Car seats?!?

Proudly we stood in front of our Silver
Cross Wayfarer Combination Pram and Pushchair System, Car seat and Isofix Base
feeling quite pleased with ourselves and a little less out of the parenting
loop! Probably should try and get the thing in the car before we get too smug!

“You’ve put it where!!” my mother screamed.
Who knew that you weren’t allowed prams in the house until the baby arrives?!?
We really are complete clueless.

Thursday, 9 April 2015

So the first scan (12 week dating scan) was
incredible. The nerves I felt going in were terrible. I couldn’t help wonder if
it is normal to worry this much that the little poppet inside me is ok. Do all
mums feel like this?

But as soon as I saw little poppet on the
screen wriggling around, I felt like the weight had been lifted. I don’t
usually buy in for all this emotional, soppy stuff but I’m not ashamed to admit
I shed a little tear! That tiny little thing on the screen with a beating heart
was growing inside me and it was ours. Is there anything more wonderful in life
than this? It’s amazing how the start of this new life can make everything in
your life just feel insignificant. God knows how I feel when this tiny ‘thing’
is out in the real world.

My husband and I watched as tiny poppet
wriggled around inside me, apparently it was a fan of the golden syrup porridge
I had for breakfast. Do I really have to wait so long for the next scan!!!

Sunday, 29 March 2015

Telling people was great fun!
Watching their reactions and excitement for you is just so heart-warming
delightful. The first people we told was my parents; I am their eldest daughter
and this will be their first grandchild, so you can probably imagine their excitement.
My dad practically danced around the kitchen clinging on to my husband. 18
months previous when we got married, had managed to squeeze in three references
to wanting to be a granddad in his ‘father of the bride’ speech therefore we
were not surprised at his delight! My mother was equally excited, if not slightly
reserved at the fact that this makes her ‘officially old!’

We agreed that we would then tell
my husband’s parents and a friend each. I told my best friend nervously. I am
due to be her maid of honour in August, the same month our baby is due.
Thankfully, she is the world’s nicest person and was so busy squealing and
talking about ‘auntie’ duties that she didn’t mind one bit about our potential
date clash.

My husband told his friend/his
other half. To say they are inseparable is an understatement, I was genuinely
surprised when he didn’t turn up on our honeymoon! It wasn’t announced in the
same delicate way we told others, with my husband declaring “My willy works!” I
think there was a back pat, a murmur of congratulation and then moving onto a
discussion about football.

Close friends that we hadn’t got
round to telling, found out pretty quick when I would dart out of the room, quickly
followed by vomiting! Having previously being known for my love of a cocktail,
it was a hard one to hide from our friends and most people were pretty
suspicious! There are so many times you can use the driving excuse before
people do a quick glance at your belly!

Pinterest was the inspiration
for our announcement on social media, opting for the photograph below . . .

No one warned me about the
tiredness. The first twelve weeks I felt like a baby myself; who needed
afternoon naps. I quite liked the indulgence of having a nap without the guilt.
But when you are a teacher and you have to come home to marking a mountain of
books, prepare resources and complete planning it is not so easy to squeeze in
the naps. And guilt less naps are non existent. I found myself getting excited if I got into
bed before 9pm.

And then there was the aches, how
is it possible to feel this dreadful this early on? My boobs feel so swollen, I
want to hold them just walking up stairs! Which is fine in the privacy of my
own home but you do get some funny looks if you absentmindedly have a grope
whilst out shopping. As for my husband, he has had so many smacked hands that
he has given up attempting to cop a feel!

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Ohhh yay! I have been nominated for an Award, thanks to lifewithbumpsfor
nominating me for the Leibster Award. This award is a great way for bloggers to
connect and interact, all the while pushing us to get our blogs out there for
the world to see.

The Leibster Award has rules, should you wish to accept them they are
below

1) Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their lovely
blog.

2) Answer their questions in a blog post.

3) Nominate at least 10 blogs for their own
lovely Leibster Award.

4) Create some questions of your own.

5) Let your nominees know that they are nominated.

2) Answering lifewithbumps questions

1. What
are your nicknames? What do you prefer to be called?

Luckily
my name doesn’t call for many nicknames! My husband calls me medium poppet; he’s
big poppet, the cat little poppet and we have baby poppet on the way!

2. What
books on your shelf are begging to be read?

I have a
ton of books to read, normally they get read in the summer holidays, although I
think this year’s summer holiday might not be as relaxing! I also have a ton of
baby books to read!!

3. How
often do you doodle? What do your doodles look like?

All the
time, usually intricate swirly patterns. I have to admit they are usually very
girly!

4. What
do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep? Toss and Turn? Try
to get up and do something productive?

The
worst thing of all and look at my phone or play solitaire! Sometimes I will get
up and do marking but only if it as after 5am!

5. How
many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it?

Oh I
would really struggle with this, I would be ok if I had a book and something
crafty to do. But I’d get bored after a day, two days top! I rely heavily on
social interaction.

6. Do
you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away?

I’m a
sentimental hoarder and then I have a clear out and become ruthless again. I
have ‘first’ cards, like my first card as a girlfriend, fiancée, wife etc.

7. Who
is the biggest pack rat you know?

I wasn’t
sure about this question. I had to google it. Urban dictionary told me it’s a hoarder.
If that’s the case than my husband! He has so much rubbish in our house that I
have no idea why he keeps. We are hoping to move soon, I can’t wait to clear it
all out!!

8. When
making an entrance in to a party, do you make your presence known? Do you slip
in and look for someone you know? Do you sneak in quietly and find a safe spot
to roost?

I like
to make an entrance! What’s the point of being at party if people don’t now?!

9. What
is your strongest sense? If you had to give one up, which would it be?

My sixth
sense! Intuition and Instinct. I always seem to be able to sense when things
are going to happen. I had a strange dream about my husband proposing the night
before he did. I am also a great judge of character, I tend to make my mind up
about a person very quickly… And I’m usually right!

10. How
many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror?

Ermmmm
it used to be a lot more ! Pregnancy acne means I am scared to. However I am
fascinated by my growing bump . .Probably too much!!!